Choices for my wet-dry rig

[Wooly Fox]

I have a rudimentary wet dry rig setup using my custom 50W tube head as the dry and my quilter toneblock 202 as my wet side. Cabs being used are a 2x12 w/ JBL D120F and a Zilla 1x12 w/ Celestion 200W bass speaker.

I'm considering dumping the quilter and the 2x12 (I'll keep the speakers to use in something else) and going with a 30W tube combo or get a DIY kit 2x12 and build a new 2x12 cab.

I'm trying out some Dr Z amps today but have tried a 100W Marshall combo which was amazing but might be too much amp for my needs.

What other amp brands should I be looking for to pair with my custom amp. My custom amp is Fender Super Reverb and Vox AC30 derived and uses 2x6L6 power tubes and 2x12AX7 preamp tubes.

 

[4pickupguy]

Something with a bit of headroom in a combo would be my choice. What type of music do you play?

 

[Wooly Fox]

Update:

Just tried the Z-Master 3x10 combo, what an amp, clean headroom for days and super loud. I think I had to put it near 4 o'clock on both volumes to get any crunch. It's a proper pedal platform. It's a shame it's near C$5k...

So I play mostly blues and hard rock with a smattering of grunge and 90s alternative music. What I'm looking for is either another high headroom amp for the wet side that can sound good when I turn on my dirt pedals. My quilter right now doesn't sound great to my ear with crunch or dirt which I use for the heavier music. It's perfectly fine for the clean bluesy jazzy stuff I play with light modulation but it doesn't fulfill the heavy side.

My 50W custom amp is great for cleans and can generate a great OD tone with no pedals and using the OD voice switch (puts in another tube I believe). I can use this by itself if I were jamming or gigging but I gets slightly overwhelmed when I want to use modulation effects and reverb.

Really want to simplify my gain staging so the dry amp is first in line then my pedal board goes to my wet amp is what I think I need to do.

 

[McGoldTopp]

I’m using a Marshall Sv20c and a vox ac10. Or the ac10 and a 7ender pro or blues jr.

 

[Alex_C]

Laney Ironheart 30watt combo. good clean headroom on one channel, heavy gain on the other. I prefer the Lionheart, but it may have too much warmth for you when things get super heavy.

 

[Wooly Fox]

Thanks for the responses so far, I think 30W is the right amount of headroom I'm looking for as it'll stay clean enough for the modulation and delay pedals and keep up with the dry amp.

I tried an AC30 previously but it didn't do it for me.

I think I'll see what DIY 2x12 kits I can get.

 

[JDB2]

What I'm looking for is either another high headroom amp for the wet side that can sound good when I turn on my dirt pedals. My quilter right now doesn't sound great to my ear with crunch or dirt which I use for the heavier music.

If you haven’t tried this already, before you dump the Quilter, maybe try turning the gain up and the limiter down a bit when you kick on the dirt pedals. I’ve found that a little bit of the TB 202’s natural clipping adds lots of depth/complexity to pedal dirt for heavier sounds.

BTW I’m running a pair of Quilter’s 300W 12” Block Dock HD cabinets and it can get brutal.

 

[Wooly Fox]

If you haven’t tried this already, before you dump the Quilter, maybe try turning the gain up and the limiter down a bit when you kick on the dirt pedals. I’ve found that a little bit of the TB 202’s natural clipping adds lots of depth/complexity to pedal dirt for heavier sounds.

BTW I’m running a pair of Quilter’s 300W 12” Block Dock HD cabinets and it can get brutal.

I run the limiter off anyway and the gain at 9 o'clock so still pretty clean. Even through the bass speaker it doesn't sound right to me.

 

[JDB2]

I run the limiter off anyway and the gain at 9 o'clock so still pretty clean. Even through the bass speaker it doesn't sound right to me.

Maybe try your dirt pedals with the Quilter gain at 12 o’clock or even 3 o’clock and limiter at 9 o’clock and see what you think.

If you always run limiter at 0 with gain down low you might be missing a lot of what that amp can offer.

 

[Wooly Fox]

So I tried your suggestion and with some mild dirt it works quite well. If the cab I was using didn't buzz so much (loose t nut but cab isn't great anyway) then I think I would work.

Probably look at a mojotone cab first before dropping serious money on a combo if I don't really need to.